First ones off the top of my head would be UBIK by Phillip K Dick or either Stranger in a Strange Land or JOB by Heinlein.
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Consider Phlebas or Player of Games. Both great sci-fi books by Iain Banks. Consider Phlebas would be an epic action/adventure, bordering on space opera. Player of Games is... I dunno how to describe it. Genius enters contest on far away alien planet sponsered by future version of CIA, on the premise of diplomatic outreach, but you know there's more to it.
I always like the Culture series, but have always felt like the odd man out because I view the Culture as a pretty horrific entity. Rooting for the baddies, as it were.
Definitely! I mean there's a lot of upsides, but reading the books, I'm always thinking this would suck. Humans are almost like afterthoughts or ornaments. You gotta be 1 in a billion genius for the AI to even take you seriously and not just humoring you.
So, yeah there's lots of moments where I like seeing the underdogs thwart the Culture.
The Culture always reminds me of Lt Eddington from DS9 back when writers could write.
The Culture cries out in pain as it subverts and strips your markets and worlds.
I'd love a game set in the Culture universe. Not necessarily based directly on any of the books, but a new story told in the same universe. A Mass Effect style RPG but that fits the style and tone of the books.
However there's not a single existing dev today I'd trust not to completely fuck this up, so I hope it doesn't happen anytime soon.
I think I have Consider Phlebas. If not I’ll look for those two next time I’m at the used book store
And Use of Weapons
Player of Games has always been one of my favourite books. Would be great with big caveat - If done by someone who understand and appreciates the Lore